Israel Matzav

Inspector Tamim orders spies to leave Dubai

Dubai police chief Inspector Tamim (which means naive in Hebrew) has ordered all 'spies' to leave his desert paradise.

"Those spies that are currently present in the Gulf must leave the region within one week. If not, then we will cross that bridge when we come to it," Tamim reportedly said. When asked whether the spies he was talking about were holders of European passports, Tamim said "Europeans and others," but offered no further details.

A Gulf newspaper, Al-Khaleej, quoted Tamim saying foreign spies had better depart the emirate "or they will face extreme measures," according to a report from the Alarabiya.net Web site. The report does not indicate whether the police official outlined any specific measures to be taken against spies who remained after the ban takes effect.

Some foreign intelligence officials believe the people most likely to be affected by the spy ban—assuming Dubai authorities are serious about it—are "undeclared" spies—intelligence officers and informants who are supposed to be operating in the Emirates using undercover identities, rather than spies whose identities have been officially declared to the Emirates government and who therefore likely have status as accredited diplomats. The CIA declined to comment.

And I'm sure those 'undeclared spies' are busy packing their bags even as we speak. Good luck with that.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:41 AM